Lily Angel
by Tropical Fishy
Summary: Lily's in Heaven. I know people have done this before, but this is different. Ha.
1. Default Chapter Title

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Lily Angel 

Chapter 1

Heaven was nice. No doubt about it, it was. And because Heaven is basically perfect, Lily couldn't find anything wrong with it. Because there wasn't anything. But there was something she was missing, and while she couldn't quite put a finger on it, she knew it was important. 

James was there. Mum was there, and Dad was too. So what was missing? 

It was years after Lily and James had died, when Lily decided to go up to the lookout spot. Not many people -souls, whatever- went there, because apparently it could cause heartache. But Lily was just as stubborn as she had ever been, and flew up there on a particularly sunny day. They were all sunny, but this day had something golden about it. Like it was special, somehow. If Heaven had calendars, Lily would have known the date was important. But it didn't, so she didn't know. 

The archangels were up there, practising the flute and the harps and the trumpet. Lissy- a very pretty angle with dark blue eyes- was playing the saxophone, and was awful. As awful as an angel could get, anyway. 

Lily couldn't help grinning. She herself was quite good at the drums, but Heaven was only allowed one set (it was too loud otherwise) so she didn't get to play it often. 

Lissy placed down her instrument when she saw Lily grow nearer. 

'Hello!' Her voice was sweet, like all angels. One look at Lily and she knew where she was going. 'Are you sure?' 

Lily shook her head, and Lissy smiled. 'Come on. I want to talk to you.' 

They flew over to a slightly green area of Heaven. They were in the upper clouds of Heaven, beneath them it was perfect. Everything you have ever wanted (besides money, and that sort of thing). No one in Heaven was greedy, you just didn't need to be, and with God by your side everyday, there really wasn't much point, you were content beyond belief. 

Lissy sat silently for a moment. 'You know what kind of angel I am, don't you?' 

Lily shook her head.

'Well, I'm a guardian angel. For children. Because, as you can probably see, I'm still a child.' Lily nodded, though she hadn't noticed this before. 

'Children will listen to other children. You go there, you help them, and you come back. Adult guardian angels have to be a bit more secretive, but children are so much more innocent.'

'Did I have a guardian angel?' Lily asked, curious. 

'No. Well, you did in a way -everyone does- but you didn't really need one. James and Sirius and Jo were such good friends. Well-' Lissy smiled- 'maybe not James the _whole_ time, but you always had people there for you. Some kids don't have that.'

'Did-' Lily couldn't find the right words. 'Did you die? Or are angels just _there_?' 

'I died.' Lissy said simply. 'I look after children who're sick. Because that's how I died.'

'How?' Lily whispered. 

'You know about cancer? I mean, because I'm not sure magical people have heard of it. One little wizard boy didn't. His parents were sure they could cure him…' Lissy sighed. 

'Yeah…I know. Do you help kids with cancer?'

'Yup. That's me. Sometimes I'm just there as another patient. Or I'm a friend who visits them. Everyone has a guardian angel. Some just never know.' 

Lily nodded, and Lissy grinned. 'Why're you going to the lookout, anyway? To see Harry?'

Something in Lily's mind clicked. Harry! That's what wasn't there. She almost felt sad. But you don't feel sad in Heaven. 

'Maybe…' Lissy looked thoughtful. 'Maybe you could see him, just for a moment. Because he obviously misses you lots too, or else you wouldn't be feeling like this.' 

Lily nodded, a lump forming in her throat. But tears won't come in Heaven, so maybe this lump was just her imagination. It still worked over time round here even. 

Lissy seemed to be having a conversation. Lily knew who it was with. God always had time to talk, even if it was just for a joke. He actually had a pretty good sense of humour. The only annoying thing was that he knew all the answers, even if you made up the joke yourself. 

'You can be his angel for a day! But just one day…hopefully you won't be homesick any more. Or Harry sick, whatever. Oh, and God said that if you're good, you might be able to become a guardian angel! So be good, won't you? If you are, I get to train you!' Lissy appeared to be incredibly excited. 'I've never trained anyone…except for little Matty, and he wasn't exactly angel material.'

'Matty?' Lily asked, a smiled forming on her lips. 'As in, trumpet player?' 

'Yeah…'Lissy sighed. 'He was hopeless. I had to cover up for him…Now some humans think that he was a poor little kid who belonged in a mental institute. Lucky I was there, really.' 

Lily stifled a giggle. 'When do I get to go?' 

'Once I've told you the rules. You can't go back to earth without hearing the rules.

'Now. One. You can't tell them you're an angel. Two. It's not Harry that you're helping. It's some other kid. Dunno their name. But you'll know as soon as you see them. 

Three. You'll still look like you- but you as a sixteen year old- mostly we go back as we are, but Harry might recognise you otherwise. Four…I don't remember- wait! If you're good -this really isn't a rule- and they need help more after that, you'll become their permanent guardian angel. I spent years with one little girl. I think you know her. Amy. She plays the harp. She's almost as bad as me on the sax. Got it?' 

Lily nodded, feeling a bit nervous. 'Can I just say goodbye to James? '

'Sure you can. Meet me at the lookout, soon as the stars come out.'

Well, now. There's going to be more to this, whether you like it or not. It comes after a series that I've written which still isn't quite finished. I'll put it on here once I have. So, bye. 

Everything belongs to J.K. Rowling, except Lissy. She's mine. All mine. He he he. 

Please review. I review yours -that is, if I read it- you review mine. Fair? I think so. 


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Lily Angel

Chapter 2

Lily flew quickly back to James, where he was playing chess with Holly. Holly groaned. 

'Something's made you better at this over the years,' she scolded him. 'You used to be awful.'

'Thanks a lot.' He was about to insult her (he wasn't exactly angelic) when he saw Lily, grinning like she hadn't in ages. 

'What's up with you?' 

'I'm going to be a guardian angel!' Lily hopped about, then looked at the chessboard. 'You're _still_ playing this game?' She raised her eyebrows. 'This _isn't_ the same game, is it?' 

'Yeah.' Holly sighed. 'He's taking hours with his moves…literally.' 

'And what's this about you being an angel? Not that you aren't one already…Hmm.' He nodded, and squinted at Lily, sizing her up. 'Yeah, I can see you as a guardian angel.'

'Good.' She was about to tell him about Harry, but he looked so happy. Maybe she should tell him after…or just not at all. After all, even Harry wouldn't know who she was…

'I've got to go, Lissy said she'd meet me when the stars came up.' Lily looked around. 'It's just getting darker now. I'll see you later, kay?' 

James grinned, kissed her on the cheek, and then looked at the chessboard. 'Hey!' He exclaimed, looking wounded. 'You cheated!' 

'Moi?' Holly said innocently. 'Cheat?' 

Lily left, feeling happier than she had in ages. Which was saying something. 

Lissy was waiting for her by a tall tree with silver pears dangling from it. They tasted like- Lily tried to remember. Lissy had brought some down for them once, but that had been years ago. Like something sweet, but not sugary sweet…just heavenly sweet. 

She grinned as Lily approached, and Lily winced when she saw the saxophone in her hands. 

Lissy either didn't see her face, or pretended not to, and started talking enthusiastically. 

'Now, you're name's going to be Lillian Skye -you can't have your real name- you're a new student, even if you are a bit old…just make up some answers, kay?'

Lily nodded, starting to feel nervous. 

'You won't see Harry all the time, and you can't let him know who you are. Try not to make too many attachments, because -depending on how troubled the person is- you'll have to leave them. Oh, and Lily?' Lissy looked at her anxiously. 

'Yeah?' 

'Do try to be good, won't you? I can't come, I have to help someone in Russia…but I'd really like someone to train…Michelangelo thinks I'm a hopeless teacher…so please?'

Lily bit her lip, wondering if all guardian angels that were just starting felt like they were going to be sick. 'I'll try,' she squeaked. Lissy patted her shoulder. 

'It's okay to be nervous. But you won't do anything wrong. And Lily?' 

'Mmm?' She didn't trust herself to open her mouth. 

'You're going to be human again. You can't walk through walls or anything. That would be a bit of a give-away. Dumbledore knows you're coming, but only as a student. He doesn't know who you are. Got it?' Lissy seemed to be getting a bit impatient. 'I'm supposed to be in Russia,' she explained.

'Now, all you have to do is jump. The stars catch you.' 

Lily looked down uncertainly. 'You're sure?'

'Course I'm sure,' Lissy said with a laugh. 'Besides, you can't die twice, can you?' 

'I suppose not.'

Then she closed her eyes and jumped. 

Lily looked around. She was some where familiar…Hogwarts! That was it. So where should she go? 

__

Help! Lissy, someone, God, anyone? Please?

'Okay, take deep breaths, deep breaths-' 

'Who're you?' A boy's voice said, and she spun around, feeling…heavy? Well, maybe not heavy, but when you've been able to fly for fifteen years, you're bound to feel a bit different when you can't any more. 

'I'm Lily-an.' She added on hastily, remembering the change. 'Lillian Skye.'

She looked at the boy and his friend properly for the first time, and gasped. She was looking at an exact replica of James. But his eyes...They were her eyes. 

Harry chose to ignore her reaction, he was, after all, used to it. His friend spoke up. 'How come you're here? I mean, you look a bit old to be a first year…' He trailed off.

Lily tried to think of an explanation. 'Ummm… I'm-' She was rescued by Professor Dumbledore. 

'Ah, I see you've found our exchange student!' He smiled pleasantly at Lily, who grinned weakly. 

'Miss Skye. Please follow me, we have to choose a house for you.' She nodded numbly, and followed him, her ears just catching what Harry and his friend were saying.

'Pretty thing, eh?' 

__

Oh, my God. 

Lily sat in Professor Dumbledores office, looking at the things surrounding her. It wasn't the first time she'd been here. Fawkes was still there, though in a different cage. The last one had been involved in an unfortunate incident with a shrinking solution (which was actually meant for Snape) and Dumbledore had obviously never been able to fix it. None of them ever had been very good at potions, she thought with a tiny smile on her face. 

'Well, Miss Skye, please put this on your head.' He handed her the sorting hat. 

She nervously put it on her head, wondering what it would do. Would it know she was actually dead?

'Ah, Miss Cooper- no, you're Potter now, aren't you? Nice couple you two make…anyhow, I see you're on a mission…well, it's not Gryffindor we want then…How about Ravenclaw? Yes, yes, I think that will be perfect, yes RAVENCLAW it is.' 

She took the hat off and handed it back to Dumbledore, who looked exactly the same as the last time she had seen him. Although his beard was a bit longer now. 

'I'll show you to your rooms then, shall I? 

Lily nodded. 

As they walked along the familiar halls of her old school, Dumbledore explained recent events. 'School's just started for the year, so you won't be too far behind, I'm hoping. You'll be staying with the Ravenclaw sixth years.' He stopped by a suit of armour, which Lily recognised as the Ravenclaw entrance. (You knew a lot of things when you knew James and Sirius) 

'Humbug,' the Professor said, and the armour walked politely away from the wall, revealing a large opening. 

The Ravenclaw common room was quite like the Gryffindor one, although it had a lot more blue in it. Dumbledore led her up a flight of stairs, to a door marked _'sixth year girls.'_

Lily bit her lip. 

The girls in the room looked up as Dumbledore entered, and they stared at the newcomer with interest. 

'This is Lillian Skye,' Dumbledore said, 'she's our new exchange student. Please make her feel welcome.' 

He left, and Lily suddenly felt very alone. 

'Hi,' a girl with long black hair said, smiling. She was quite pretty. 

__

So there she is. 

Ah, the end of another part. Well, there've only been two parts, but still…There's a better story- at least, I think it's better, by me called _The Flower and the Stag_. (It's about Lily and James) So if, by any chance, you happen to like this, then I think you'll like that. 

Again, everything except Lissy belongs to J.K. Rowling. And Heaven doesn't really belong to anyone. This is just my interpretation. Holly's mine too. 

Review? Please? It would be soooo nice of you. Really, I wouldn't mind. J


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Lily Angel 

Chapter 3

Lily was becoming familiar with Hogwarts again, and she quickly realised there were lots of things you couldn't say when you weren't supposed to have been somewhere before. She had to pretend she didn't know where anything was, which got to be extremely annoying. How could she say she didn't know where the library was? Well, she could, but she didn't find it easy. 

Cho Chang, whom she was supposed to be helping, was yet another problem. She couldn't figure out what was wrong with her. She was happy, funny and altogether fun to hang around with, but the next minute she was locked in the bathroom and crying. 

Even _angels_ couldn't figure her out. 

The worst thing, as far as Lily was concerned, was that her son's best friend had a crush on her. Of course, he didn't know that she was about twenty-four years older than him in reality, and that she was married. To his best friends dad. And apart from all that she had died fifteen years ago. If it wasn't actually happening, she would have found it funny. 

Lily didn't realise Cho was staring at her while she pondered over her problems. She was quite out of practise with problems, which could have been why she didn't have any answers. 

'Lillian?' Cho sounded concerned. 'Are you okay?' 

Lily glanced up, surprised. 'What? Yeah…I'm fine. Just thinking.' 

''Bout what?' 

'Nothing much.'

'Just everything?'

'Basically.' 

'Well, I have some good news. We've got a new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. We had him before, he's really cool.'

'What's his name?' Lily said absently, wondering if she could scare Ron off with a dungbomb. 

'Professor Lupin. He's so nice, really- what's wrong? You've gone all pale.' 

'Oh- oh, nothing. You wouldn't know his first name, would you?'

'Yeah, I think it's Remus. And guess what?'

'What?' Lily hated guessing games. 

'He's a werewolf!' 

Lily wondered if she was going to faint. 

'Er- I think I forgot my quill, yeah, that's it-' 

'Quit stalling.' Cho said impatiently. 'Why don't you want to go in? Because he's a werewolf? He's not scary or anything.'

__

I know_ that. I was only his friend for- what? Ten years?_

'Look.' Cho said, when Lily didn't answer her. 'You can borrow my quill. Okay?'

Lily stayed stock still, biting her lip. It hurt. It was strange, how you could forget what pain was like. It even had its own taste…but that could have been the blood. 

'Cho…I feel sick,' she said feebly. At least it was the truth. 

Cho looked suspiciously at her, frowning. 'You were fine before.'

'Maybe I ate something at lunch?'

Cho raised her eyebrows. 'We haven't _had_ lunch yet.' 

__

Oops. Very clever, Lily. 

Lily continued to stand still biting her nails, and Cho tapped her foot on the stones, looking around. 

'Miss Chang?' A gentle voice said, and Cho turned around. 

'Professor Lupin!' She grinned, and pulled Lily over. 'This is Lillian Skye. She's new. And she doesn't want to go in, can you tell her you're not scary?'

Remus stared at the face of a girl he knew so well, and hadn't seen for so long. She looked at him pleadingly, her eyes' wide, silently begging him not to say anything. 

'Hello Lillian,' he said pleasantly, recovering from his shock. 'I don't bite.' 

__

Not at this time of the month, anyway. 

She grinned. 

'So, Lily. ' Remus said, looking at her sadly, his grey eyes mixed with curiosity. 

'Mmm?' 

'I was under the impression you were dead.'

'Oh, that.'

'That.' He said dryly. 

'I am,' she said simply, fiddling with a loose strand of red hair.

'You are? Forgive me for sounding stupid, but you appear to be standing right in front of me. And you' he reached over and tapped her hand. 'Are solid.'

'Yeah, I know. I'm being an angel.' 

'An angel?'

'Yup.' She grinned. 'This is my first task.'

'What d'you have to do?'

'Help Cho Chang.' Lily sighed. 'I don't know what's wrong with her, though. I can't figure it out.'

Remus watched his old friend lean back in her chair. 

'Seen Harry?'

She smiled broadly, looking extremely proud. 'I have. He's just like James, isn't he?' 

'Yeah. Breaks just as many rules, too. Maybe not quite as experienced in getting detentions, though.'

'Awww. James'll be disappointed.'

'You see James?'

'Course I see James. There's only one Heaven, you know. I think he's probably still playing chess with Holly.'

'But…You don't want people to know who you are, do you?' 

'Uh, no. I don't think you were supposed to be here. Dumbledore has some kind of spell on him.' She paused. 'Why _are_ you here?' 

'Dumbledore sent me a letter, the teacher before this ran into one of Hagrids -er- _pets_.' 

Lily snorted. 

'So how's life as an angel?' 

'S'okay. I do have a rather difficult problem, though.'

'What's that?' 

'You know Ron Weasley?' 

He smiled. 'Yeah, he's Harry's best friend. Red head?'

'Yup. He seems to be um- kind of- following me around?'

Remus started to laugh. 'How cute.'

'It is _not_ cute. I can't exactly go up to him and say 'sorry sweetie, I'm married.'

'True.' He was still laughing silently. 

'Oh, shut up…You won't tell anyone, will you?'

'No one.' He promised, and then stopped, looking thoughtful. 'Lily?' 

'Yeah?'

'What about Sirius? He- he thinks it's his fault. That you died.'

Lily's eyes widened. 'What? Why- how- it wasn't! It was Pettigrew! He can't blame himself!' She was obviously very upset. 'Stupid little rat.' She muttered. 

'So…he can see you?' 

'Who? Sirius? Umm…I guess he can. But -er- I wasn't supposed to tell anyone. You and Sirius are exceptions. I haven't even been able to tell Harry.' Lily looked downcast. 

Remus looked at his watch and groaned. 'I have to go.' Lily nodded, and Remus got up to leave. In the doorway, he turned around. 'Lily?' 

'Mmm?'

'About Cho. Last year, Cedric Diggory died. Amos Diggory's son.'

'Amos? He was that Hufflepuff who fell off his broom, wasn't he?'

'Yeah. Cedric was the opposite. Anyway, he and Cho were pretty close. Maybe that's got something to do with it.'

'Oh. Thanks, Moony.' She grinned, using his old nickname. 'When will I see Sirius?' 

'Er- not for awhile.'

'Why not? Doesn't he live in Hogsmeade?'

'That was awhile ago, Lil.' He said sadly. 

'Yeah…I know.' The bell rang. 'I'll see you later, okay?'

'Yup. Have fun in potions.'

'What's that supposed to mean?'

He grinned evilly. 'Bet you never thought you'd see Snape again?'

'Snape? What? He isn't?' Remus nodded, and she groaned. 'Oh, my God...' She looked up. 'No offence, or anything.' 

'What?'

'God doesn't like us swearing with his name. It's not very nice.'

He laughed. 'Right. Bye, Lillian.'

'Lillian? Oh, yeah. Bye Professor.'

I'll put the next part up really soon, I promise. I'm sick. I have the sneezes.

I'm sorry this took so long to put up. I know what's going to happen next, plus I have holidays, so I have plenty of time. 

Everything is J.K. Rowling's, blah, blah, blah. 

Hey, is anyone watching the Olympics? I am…Go Ian Thorpe. *Waves a little Australian flag* he he he.

Please tell me what you think, point out any mistakes, whatever. If you don't like it, tell me _why_ so I can fix it. 

Bye J


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Lily Angel 

Chapter 4

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Old friend of mine, 

We will never lose the time

That we've shared all these years

These years

Will you make it till the end?

Through all the twists and bends?

Will you fulfil your dreams?

Not as easy as it seems

Floating in the weir

And you think you'll never sink

So you forget all your fears

Your fears

~ Killing Heidi- 'Weir' 

Lily was so excited about seeing Remus again, she didn't think as they stepped into the dungeons for Potions. The Ravenclaws had a double with the Hufflepuffs -Lily recognised several students as the children of some of her friends- and she was so caught up she didn't notice the Potions master approaching her. 

'Miss Chang?' A cold, slimy, and horribly familiar voice sneered.

__

Uh oh. 

'Who might this be?'

'Er- this is the exchange student, Lillian Skye, Professor Snape.'

Lily shuddered at his name.

'Turn around and face me, girl. I've heard lots of stories about you. Quite a genius in Charms, eh? Hopefully this won't be quite so easy for you.'

Lily bit her lip and turned around.

In later days, the Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws never could figure what made Professor Snape faint. 

Cho looked at Lily after some of the other teachers had carried Snape out, with a very surprised expression on her face. 'What was that all about? He took one look at you and conked out.'

'Er- he wasn't feeling well?'

Cho frowned, but didn't say anything else. Most of the other students were very grateful for this, and had taken the opportunity to jump up on the desks and sing. Lily was seriously concerned about this generation, then remembered something similar had happened in her own. 

Later that evening, she was sitting in Remus's office, waiting for Sirius to come. Remus had said he out in dog form looking for Wormtail and Lord Voldemort, but that they could probably contact him. 

Remus met him in the Entrance hall, grinning.

'What's up, Moony?' Years had changed Sirius, though he still had the same stupid sense of humour. 'Is Harry okay?'

'He's fine. For goodness sake, Sirius, you sound like a worried parent.'

Sirius glared at his friend. 'James and Lily told me that if anything happened to them, I was to look after Harry. I wasn't able to for thirteen years, can you blame me?'

'Nope. But still.'

'Anyway, what's this big surprise.'

'Trust me, you'll love it.'

'You caught Wormtail and he's now dead?' Sirius grinned wickedly, rubbing his hands together.

'Er- no. But I think you'll like this as much.'

Sirius frowned; trying to think what he'd like a lot. They walked into Remus's office, where a red-haired girl was sitting in a chair. From behind she looked a lot like Lily did at that age, he thought sadly. The girl turned around and his jaw dropped. 

__

'Lily?'

Lily had never seen Sirius so white, except for when they found out Holly had died. Before Lily could say anything at all, she had been scooped up in a hug and was being swung around the room.

'Lily! But- aren't you-'

'Dead?' She finished.

'Er- yeah.'

'Yup. I' She said importantly, grinning. 'Am an angel.'

'You are? What about your wings?'

Lily pulled a face. 'I don't get those until I've finished my first task.'

'So…this is your first task?'

'Yup. Have you seen Harry?'

Sirius grinned, though he was still rather shocked. He hadn't been expecting to see Lily Cooper- no, now she Potter. 'Yeah. He's doing well, I hear…Causing as much trouble as James did.'

'Is that possible?'

'I'm not sure…have you seen James?' Something in Sirius's eyes looked desperate and Lily remembered how good friends they had been. 

'Yeah. If he knew you were here, he would have wanted to come.'

'Is he…okay?'

'Last time I checked. Not much can happen to you in Heaven, if you know what I mean. When I left he was beating Holly in chess. Before that he was gluing the angel's wings together with honey.'

Sirius snorted, probably imagining lots of angels with sticky wings. 'So, how come you're an angel?'

'I wanted to see Harry. But, like I've already told Remus, Ron has a crush on me.'

Sirius started laughing, while Lily waited impatiently for him to calm down. 'It isn't funny! I mean, I'm married!'

This just made Sirius laugh harder, and as he did, Lily looked at him with concern. 'Hey, you're all thin! What've you been eating, just air?'

Sirius shrugged. 'Well, no, not exactly.'

Lily put her hands on her hips. 'You sound just like one of those girls on a diet 'oh, I've been eating, just not a lot.' She put on a high, very un lily-like voice. 'Trust me, Sirius, being that skinny does not suit you.'

'Hey, it's not my choice.' He and Remus exchanged a glance, while Lily watched them. 

'What is going _on_? Tell me. Moony? Come on, someone. I'll just stand here till you do.' 

Sirius decided to change the subject, much to Lily's exasperation. 'Are you sixteen in Heaven? Or are thirty-whatever-you-are-now?'

'I'm the same as age as I was when I died in Heaven.'

'Oh, damn.'

'What?'

'I've been wondering if Prongs has grey hair, like Remus here.' Remus rolled his eyes. 

'Nope. It's still black, still messy. And it's kind of weird, because we look older than Holly. It's like playing chess with a teenager.'

'You see Holly?' Sirius whispered.

'Well, yeah. Like I said to Remus, there's only one Heaven.'

'Oh.'

'Sirius, why are you so thin? You both seem so old.'

'We _are_.'

'Thirty-nine is _not_ old,' she scolded them, though it looked like she would dearly love to say they were both ancient. 'And that does not make you thin. Remus, tell me what's going on.' She looked at him, and for a sixteen-year-old girl she looked quite ferocious. Remus had to remind himself that she wasn't sixteen and that she had passed almost top of their year. 

'Er- he was in Azkaban.'

'WHAT? _Sirius_? This had better not be a joke, cause it isn't funny.'

'It's not a joke,' Sirius said, sighing. 

'But- but- _Peter_ betrayed us! Not _you_!' Lily looked furious. 

'They thought I did. And then Peter blew up a street to make it look like I did it. So I was in Azkaban for thirteen years.' 

Lily gaped at him. 'Oh my God. Oh, poor Padfoot!' She hugged him, because there wasn't anything she could think to say. 'But- you're sane.'

'Yeah, the animagus transformation helped. Dementors couldn't get to me then.'

'Oooh. So it did come in useful. For once,' she added under her breath. 'So where's rat-boy?'

Both Remus and Sirius looked even grimmer, which Lily hadn't thought possible. 

'He didn't- he hasn't- escaped, has he?' 

'Everyone still thinks I told Voldemort where you and James and Harry were.'

Lily swore under her breath, then looked up with another question. 'Hang on a minute. If you were in Azkaban for thirteen years- who'd Harry stay with? Not Peter, I'm hoping. He couldn't look after my baby if you paid him.' Sirius grinned. 

'He's not a baby any more, Kermit.' 

She shrugged. 'Did _you_ look after him?' She looked at Remus. He shook his head. 

'Then who did?'

'Er- Petunia?' Sirius waited for her to explode. It took a moment for this news to sink in, and then

__

'WHAT???'

'Yeah, he lived with the Dursley's for eleven years…he still stays there over the holidays.'

Lily groaned and put her hands in her head. 'I can't believe this is happening. Does Harry- does he think you betrayed us?'

'Yeah, he thought I did. But he doesn't now. He's been feeding me, actually.'

'Obviously not much.'

'Hey, I'm a runaway.'

'So…who knows that you're innocent? Moony, obviously. Harry- anyone else?'

'Yeah. Dumbledore, Harry's friends- Hermione and Ron-' Sirius snickered at Ron's name- 'Er- some of Ron's family, Arabella, and- well, Peter.'

'So where is Peter?'

'Helping Voldemort.'

'WHAT?' Lily screeched. 'I thought he just- he was just a _wimp_. You mean he was already betraying our side? _Before_ we died?' 

They nodded. 

'Oooh. I'd like to wrap my fingers around that pudgy throat of his.' She made a choking motion in the air. 

'Um- I'm not sure if this is right time to bring this up,' Remus said tentatively. 'But Cedric- he was killed by Wormtail…Harry told me.' 

Lily sank back into her chair. 'All the more reason for me to help Cho.'

'Oh, you're helping Cho?' Sirius looked interested. 

'Mm? Yeah, I am.'

'Nice kid. You do know that Harry- er- kind of likes her?'

Lily goggled at him. 'This was never how I imagined life with my son. I look more than ten years younger than my best friends, I almost killed the Potions Master-'

'Ooh, did you?'

'It isn't funny, Sirius. In fact-' she listened to the footsteps coming down the hall- 'I'd say that's him right now.'

True to her word, Severus Snape strode in a few moments later, seething with rage. 

'What kind of joke is this, I demand to know!' 

'It's not a joke, Snape.' Lily said coolly. 

'Who _are_ you?' He hissed. 

'Lily Potter.' She said simply, wondering what his reaction would be. 

His beady eyes narrowed. 'She _died_. Along with her good-for-nothing husband.'

Lily leapt up and slapped him right across the face. 'I can prove I really _am_ Lily. Do you remember in our sixth year, I turned you into a toad and left you sitting outside the infirmary?'

Snape's face turned an ugly shade of red. 'You- really-' he fainted for the second time that day. 

'Did you?' Remus asked, interested. 

'Hmm? Oh, yeah, I did. I- don't remember why…it was pretty funny, I thought he'd kill me though.'

'Oh, I remember!' Sirius said, looking up from where he'd been drawing on Snape's face. 'And so you went to the library to research hexes and- hey, why was James on top of you?'

Remus looked from Lily to Sirius, with no clue to what was going on. 'What _are_ you talking about?' 

Lily didn't answer, instead she added her won graffiti to Snape's face, and then saw the clock. 'Oops. I have to go, Cho doesn't know where I am.'

Sirius got up and hugged her. 'Hey, Lil?'

'Yeah?'

'I- I didn't know Peter was going to betray you. Honest.'

Lily smiled and kissed him on the cheek. 'I know you didn't. I really have to go. Bye, Remus.' On her way out she stepped carefully on Snape's stomach.

Severus Snape woke up in the Hospital Wing the next morning, wondering why. Then the evening events came back to him. Madame Pomfrey walked over to the bed, holding a breakfast tray, humming cheerfully.

'Lily!' He gasped. 'She- Poppy, she's alive!'

'Now, now Severus. You've had a nasty bang on the head, just calm down.'

'It's true! Lily- Potter! She's here! In this castle!'

The nurse took no notice of him, she just took his blood pressure, wondering if the school's potions master had finally lost it. 

'It's true!' He wailed.

That afternoon, he had the Slytherins and Gryffindors for a double, but he couldn't figure out what the joke was. Even Draco Malfoy sniggered when he walked into the room, though he wasn't nearly as rude as Potter…Lily's son. He shook his head. It couldn't have been Lily- he was at their funeral, though only because Dumbledore said it would be a nice gesture. 

Harry Potter tried not to explode from laughter. 'You think he knows?' He whispered to Ron, who had tears in his eyes. Ron smirked. 'If I had the word LOSER printed across my forehead, I wouldn't be parading it.'

'I guess this just proves it,' Harry said, scribbling down the notes off the board. 'He really doesn't own a mirror.' 

A/N I have no idea where this is going. Does anybody else? I mean, I know how to end it, but I'm running a complete blank in between. So this will probably just continue plotless until I come up with something, kay? Coz I have a French project that's supposed to be finished by next Tuesday…haven't started it yet. Hope this wasn't too boring, but Lily didn't know about Sirius and stuff. 

Disclaimer- everything is J.K. Rowling's, and the song at the beginning belongs to Killing Heidi. Great song. 


	5. Default Chapter Title

Have you ever wanted to just punch something really, really hard? I just had a sudden urge to throw the keyboard out the window. Um, yeah. I haven't forgotten this story, I just haven't er- remembered it. 

****

Lily Angel 

Chapter 5

Hermione Granger sat in the Gryffindor Common room with Ron Weasley and Harry Potter, discussing Quidditch. Well, the boys were, and she was reading _Intermediate Arithmancy_. 'Hey, Harry.' Ron said suddenly, dropping his quill in thought. 

'Mm?' Harry was half doing his Transfiguration homework, though half the answers were wrong, thanks to his concentration, or lack thereof. 

'What d'you think of that Lillian girl?'

Harry rolled his eyes. 'You _still_ thinking about her?'

Ron's ears went pink, but he shook his head defensively. 'No…I was just…wondering, I guess.'

Hermione snorted, while Harry tilted his face up to the ceiling, a puzzled expression on his face. 'I'm not really sure. I mean, she's nice enough...but don't you think it's a little weird the way Lupin went all white when he saw her and then Snape fainted? And Sirius was acting really weird the other day…'

'Sirius is always a little weird, Harry. I mean, he jokes about the weirdest things.'

'Hermione!' Ron scolded her. 'Mocking the great Snuffles!' 

Hermione rolled her eyes, though Harry wasn't paying any attention to his (rather crazy) friends. 

'Yeah…come on, we're going to find out what she's up to.'

'What?' Hermione looked up in surprise. 'But I have to finish this essay- it's due tomorrow-'

'Hermione.' Harry said patiently. 'You're already over twelve inches. I think you're allowed to stop sometime soon.'

Hermione sighed, rolled up the parchment and stood up reluctantly, while Ron eagerly shoved his essay to one side. 

Harry, Ron and Hermione crept along the corridors until they reached the Ravenclaw common room- they knew where it was thanks to the marauders map. Harry glanced at the map and whispered the password to the suit of armour. It moved politely to the side. Harry turned and grinned at his friends, then slipped the invisibility cloak over them. 

They crept up the stairs until they reached the sixth year girl's dorm, and the door was (thankfully) open. The three of them hid in a corner of the room, watching the two girls who were talking quietly. 

The girl with the red hair was laughing prettily, giggling at something Cho Chang had said. She calmed down awfully quick when Cho changed the subject to Snape. Afterwards, Ron said he couldn't blame her, but Harry was sure there was something else in those green eyes…green eyes that looked just like his…

Harry sighed, confused and tired, unable to think properly. Though that could have been because Cho had just thrown back her head with laughter, the sunlight from the window shining on her hair. 

He gulped and both girls looked at the corner in surprise. 'Is anyone there?'

They didn't answer, but (from many years of experience) Lily knew all about invisibility cloaks, and she leapt over to where they were hidden before Harry, Hermione and Ron had a chance to move or even duck. She ripped the cloak off them and poked Hermione in the eye in the process. 

'Harry!' She gasped in surprise, and dropped the cloak. She whispered something, and Harry was sure he caught the word 'James's' somewhere in there. 

She stared at him with big, emerald, round eyes, frozen to the spot. He looked so much like James…acted so much like James, and he'd never even met his father. 

'Er- hi. Bye.' Ron had decided that that was enough staring, and he pulled his friends out the door, waving goodbye to the girls, both of who were shocked.

***

Harry, Ron and Hermione fell into some cushions in the common room, each lost in their own thoughts.

'Well,' Ron said after awhile, sighing. 'That worked well.'

'I have to finish my essay.' Was Hermione's reply, and Harry and Ron groaned. 'Well, I can't exactly finish off halfway through a sentence, can I?' She said indignantly, glaring at Harry, then Ron. Then she stomped off towards her homework, muttering about boys and green eyes…Harry thought that's what he heard, anyway…he stood up abruptly, said goodnight to Ron, and then hurried up to his dorm, sure there was something he needed to look at but he couldn't quite remember what.

Once up in his dorm, which was empty of people, he looked through his trunk, sure he'd work out whatever it was about Lillian Skye once he found- well, whatever it was. When he'd torn apart his trunk and found nothing, he looked in his bedside table, getting annoyed. 

Pyjamas, junk, more junk, a mouldy apple- where the hell did that come from? And then, right at the bottom, there was his old photo album. 

Harry sighed. He loved this book, but it made him sad to look through it, reminding him of what he didn't have.

But he opened it, and, on every page, Lillian Skye smiled up at him, waving, laughing, pulling silly faces. 

His mother.

Now Harry was very confused. 

***

Lily groaned, her head in her hands. Sirius smiled grimly, sitting comfortably on the edge of a table. Remus looked thoughtful. 'D'you think Harry knows?'

'Well, he isn't stupid.'

'Ah, yes. He does take after James, doesn't he?' Sirius teased. 

'Sirius. This is important. Please shut your trap for a moment and concentrate, okay?

Sirius mumbled something, but then nodded meekly as Lily pointed her wand at him. 

'What do you suggest we do?'

Hmm…we could put a memory charm on him, and then give you a face-lift…say, black hair and purple eyes, with a lovely big nose. How bout it, Sirius?' Remus looked deadly serious, and for a moment Lily looked quite worried. 

'Are you…Moony? Or some horrible imposter?'

Remus laughed. 'I'm Moony. Maybe you could just _tell_ Harry.'

Lily turned to Sirius. 'Sirius. Your ideas?'

'Wow, you must be pretty desperate. Asking meek, mild, little ole' Padfoot for advice-'

'Oh, shut up. You're crazy…I must be crazy, asking you…but I'm desperate.'

'Don't you want to tell Harry?' Remus asked, serious once more. 

'Of course I do! More than anything…but how do you tell a fifteen-year-old boy that you're his mother when you look only about a year older than he does?'

'By going up to him-'

'If you don't shut the hell up, I will curse you.' Lily threatened. 'Understand?'

'Yes, Professor Potter.' Sirius saluted. 

For a little while, the three of them sat in silence, then Sirius seemed to remember something he'd been putting off asking anyone for a very long time. 

'Do you- know where Jo is?'

Lily looked quite surprised. 'I thought you two-'

Remus sighed, while Sirius looked at his hands. 'She disappeared, right after Sirius went to Azkaban and you and James died…we looked for her for ages. She disappeared.' Remus looked very sad for both his friends, they'd been a lot closer to Jo than he was. 

Lily also looked confused. 'But- why- how?'

'I don't know. I think she kind of lost it, if you know what I mean. Her best friends were all either dead or in Azkaban.'

'How did _you_ do it?' Lily whispered, and Sirius didn't make a stupid comment (for once in his life).

'I don't know,' Remus admitted. 'I just knew I had to keep going…I tried not to think about it.'

Lily stared at him, and for the first time she noticed how much grey there was in his brown hair. 

'So. You'll talk to Harry?' Sirius asked. 

Lily shrugged.

'I have a good idea of what to say!' He offered eagerly. 

Lily moaned, and put her head in her hands. 'Oh, God.'

'Okay. Just go up o Harry, say 'Harry, I am your mother.' 

'That was just so- so- _touching_. Any other ideas, anyone?'

I'm really sorry this took so long to get out. But the next part'll be up sooner, coz I know what I'm going to do. I hope the bit with Harry wasn't bad, I've never written a story with him in it before. 

Nothing is mine, so sue me if you want, just don't expect to get anything. 


	6. Default Chapter Title

****

Lily Angel

Chapter 6

'You can't say that you don't like him though, can you?'

Lily stared at Cho.

'What are you on about?'

'Harry. I mean, I saw the way you were looking at him.'

'How, exactly, was I looking at him?'

'Well, uh, like you liked him.'

__

This cannot be happening to me. Never in my life- or death, for that matter- did I think someone would tell me that I liked my son. Not in that way. 

'No, that's not quite it.'

'Yeah, right. Goodnight Lillian.'

Lily mumbled a reply and then, when Cho's snores were loud enough to drown out the sound of footsteps, she climbed out of bed quietly and slipped out the door, wishing Harry hadn't taken James's cloak with him. 

She crept into the Gryffindor common room after begging the Fat Lady- who remembered her as Lily Cooper- to tell her the password, and then she tiptoed up to Harry's dorm. 

It was a good thing boys snored so loudly, was her first reaction upon entering the fifth year boys dorm. It was almost- though not quite- as bad as Sirius having a nightmare. 

She peered behind one curtain and found a boy sucking on his thumb, saying 'lavender' over and over. She was, of course, quite scared, as the only Lavender she knew was Lavender Brown…she didn't even want to _think_ about what he might have been dreaming. 

In the end bed, she found Harry, snoozing quietly, looking just like James, though Harry didn't drool in his sleep, apparently. 

'Harry!' She whispered, shaking his shoulder lightly. 

He stirred and looked at her with un-focused eyes. 

'Hermione?' He mumbled, sitting up sleepily, rubbing his green eyes to get the sleep out of them. 

__

Great. He thinks I'm a fifteen-year-old girl…how do I break it to him? 

Harry groped around for his glasses, put them on and blinked several times. 'Lillian?' He said uncertainly.

'Uh, sort of. Can we talk?'

Harry didn't say anything for a moment, but then he nodded. 'Yeah…sure.'

They walked down to the entrance hall under the Invisibility cloak silently. Lily tried to think of something to say, but nothing seemed quite right. Certainly 'well, you've grown up a lot since the last time I saw you' would be quite confusing, and Sirius's idea was just plain idiotic. Not to mention stupid, and besides, it had been done. 

Once outside, they pulled off the cloak and sat down on a bench. 

'So, what did you want to talk about?'

__

See, I'm actually an angel who just happens to be your mother.

'Well…it's kind of confusing.'

Harry shrugged. 'I don't mind.'

Lily took a deep breath. 'Do you miss your parents?'

'Yeah…the Dursleys aren't the nicest people to have to put up with for eleven years…' Harry didn't really know what to say.

'Um, so, if you met them now, you'd be happy?'

'Well, they're dead, you know.'

'Trust me. I know.'

Harry stared at her, and suddenly Sirius's idea looked so much simpler. 

'Look, if I said I was your mother come down from heaven as an angel, what would you say?'

'Er- I say you'd been eating Hagrids rock cakes with poison in them.' Harry remembered the photo album then, but refused to believe that this girl could possibly be his mother. If it was, why hadn't she come before this?

'If you are my mother, prove it.' He said, immediately regretting his choice of words. It sounded like she was some criminal and he was a detective gone wrong or something. 

Lily looked thoughtful for a moment. 'You've got the Marauders map, don't you?'

Harry nodded, his emerald eyes wide.

'I know all the passageways, well, almost all of them. Sirius somehow managed to drop it in our seventh year, and I think Filch got his hands on it. James and Sirius and Remus invented it…it took them ages…and Snape fainted because he knew me as well, actually-' Lily stopped for a moment, looking puzzled. 'No one was supposed to recognise me. You'd never seen me- 'cept for when you were a little baby, Remus wasn't supposed to be here, Sirius- well, last time I saw Sirius he was stuffing his face with ice-cream until he found out me and James were going into hiding…he dropped it on his toe. And how was I to know Snape'd be teaching here…didn't think the git had enough brains…but Lissy isn't exactly the smartest angel, not that she's stupid, mind you.'

Harry stared at Lily in confusion. 'Who's Lissy?'

'Oh, she's an angel. She made it so Dumbledore and McGonagall wouldn't recognise me. But she obviously didn't think of school friends or anyone.'

'Hang on a minute. If you are my mother, why didn't you come before?'

Lily looked at him sadly. 'I didn't remember…I remembered something. But I didn't remember what, and then Lissy told me. So I came…but I can't stay. I'm really sorry.'

'Where's dad?' Harry whispered, in shock.

'Er- in Heaven. Probably still playing chess. Or else he terrorising the choir…or the orchestra…or the angels by the gate…once he wore a devil mask- not a clever thing to do up in Heaven, he was almost mobbed.' Lily sighed, shaking her head. 'I'm surprised he wasn't expelled at Hogwarts, when you think of all the things he did.'

'So- you're my mum?'

'Yeah.'

Harry looked at her, trying to imagine her being a mother, but couldn't. 

'Well, I am a bit older than this, you know.'

He smiled. She had a nice voice. He'd been trying to imagine this voice all his life…he'd heard it in his third year, but that wasn't quite the same. She had a gentle voice, a kind voice, and a loving voice…the kind of voice he'd always imagined. 

'Hi.'


	7. Default Chapter Title

The computer deleted everything I'd written. I _hate_ this computer. I loathe it. I would throw it out the window, but the window's on the other side of the room…far too much bother. 

****

Lily Angel

Chapter 7

Harry wondered if his heart was still beating. This wasn't quite how he'd dreamed of meeting his mother. She didn't look as he'd imagined she would, either. Much- well, younger. But that was to be expected, considering she only looked fifteen, and she most certainly had been older than fifteen when she died. 

Harry realised he'd been staring at her, and he quickly looked at his toes. 

Lily smiled. 'You look a lot like James did, only a bit more angelic.'

Harry glanced up in surprise. He'd been called a lot of things in his time at Hogwarts, including 'prat,' 'idiot,' and quite few other insulting things (like 'child') but never before had anyone dared to go as far as calling him angelic. 

It was degrading, if not embarrassing.

'I am _not_ angelic,' he said, pouting. 

Lily grinned, and nodded her head. _'Now_ you look just like him. I was worried you'd turn out to be a carbon copy.' She sighed. 'I was right.'

'But- you were married to him, wouldn't you _want_ me to be like him?' 

His mother was a very confusing person. 

Lily laughed, and Harry felt a tingle go up his spine. She had a very pretty laugh.

'We weren't exactly on- um, close terms when we were younger…very far apart terms, actually.'

Harry stared. 'You didn't- try to- _kill_ him, did you?' 

Lily blinked, and began to wonder exactly what kind of world her son had grown up in. 

'Kill James? No, that would result in being killed by Sirius. He was just a pain in the butt.'

'Oh.' 

This was new perspective on James Potter. 

'Well, you know. Very annoying,' Lily elaborated. 

'Oh.'

Lily looked at Harry with concern. 'So how'd you like my dear sister?'

'She reminds me of a horse,' Harry said shortly.

Lily clapped with delight, and threw her arms around Harry's shoulder, strangling him. He made an odd sound that sounded remarkably like a duck, and Lily let go apologetically. 

'Sorry! It's just that makes me so _happy_!' 

Harry's eyes opened wide as Lily leapt up and did a little jig in the moonlight. Maybe Heaven drove away a persons sanity. 

'Are you- er- okay, Lily?'

She looked at her son, who was watching with a very worried expression on his face. 'I'm fine, Harry, just fine.'

She didn't look fine; she looked like she was crying. 

'You don't- um, look fine.'

Lily gazed at Harry with her eyes full of tears. Heaven obviously gave a person mood swings as well. 

'I just never thought you'd have to grow up with Petunia, and- she has a son, doesn't she? I never met him.'

'Lucky you,' Harry muttered. 'Dudley Dursley is- and there's no other way of putting this- a monster.'

'Dudley,' Lily murmured. 'Who, besides my sister, would name a poor child Dudley?'

'Dudley is not a 'poor child,' Harry informed her. 'He is the most spoilt brat in the universe.' 

'Does he look like that Vernon guy?' Lily asked curiously, imagining a smaller version of Vernon Dursley. 

'Horribly. But Aunt Petunia loves them both…she calls Dudley 'Dudders,'' Harry said, wrinkling his nose at the memory. 

Lily sighed with happiness, and they both sat silently for awhile, and as the suns first rays made the dew on the grass sparkle like crystals, they just sat, each lost in their own thoughts. 

'What was my dad like?' Harry asked suddenly, voicing the question no one had ever properly answered, for fear of making him sad. But, somehow, he didn't think Lily- calling her mum was too weird- would do that.

Lily thought for a moment. 'Well, he was very clever. Him and Sirius both were. And James was very good at Quidditch- he was a Chaser for Gryffindor…I always thought he'd fall off one day. And once he played Seeker, because their normal Seeker was sick…I swear, he almost killed himself.' Lily shuddered at the memory of this particular Quidditch game. 

'All the Hufflepuffs loved him. Especially Katherine McDowell…Wonder what happened to her?'

'Who?'

'Oh, she was this Hufflepuff who thought your father was the most wonderful person in the world. Once she tied him up, actually…I never _did_ like her.'

Harry thought of Snape. 'What'd he do to Snape?'

'A more appropriate question is what didn't he do to Snape, I think they did everything from making him come out in orange spots, to putting the jelly-legs curse on him, to stealing his underwear, enlarging it and flying it above the commentators box after a Quidditch game. I helped with that one.'

Harry grinned, relishing the thought.

'Oh no.' Lily moaned, after a glance at her watch. 'I better go, Cho'll be wondering where I am. Hey, Harry?'

'Mmm?'

'Cho likes flying, doesn't she?'

Was it her imagination, or did Harry go pink? 

'Er- yeah, I think so.'

'Thanks!' She raced up to the castle, taking the steps two at a time. Harry stared after her, his mouth dry.

'Bye, mum.' He shook his head, wondering if he was hallucinating. But a loud yell from Lily as she stubbed her toe on a rock proved this theory to be incorrect. 

It had been a very, very strange night. 

It was a Hogsmeade weekend, and when Harry told Hermione and Ron he was going with Lillian Skye, they had different reactions. 

'Why?' Ron asked, looking for some Knuts he was _sure_ he'd hidden under the bed, for fear of Crookshanks eating them. Crookshanks particularly liked eating Knuts. Sickles were okay, and Galleons were alright in emergencies, but Knuts were like a three course meal of different flavoured rats, in Crookshanks' opinion. 

Hermione just shrugged, and held Crookshanks back from Ron's money. 

'Because, she, um, asked me.' 

Harry wasn't very good at lying to his friends, but they took the hint and didn't ask any more questions. 

'D'you like Butterbeer?' Lily asked as they approached The Three Broomsticks.

Harry nodded, aware that Seamus Finnigan was winking at him in a very odd manner. 

'Is he your friend?'

Harry nodded. 

'Is he a bit- er- strange?'

Harry nodded. 

Lily grinned, and smiled charmingly at Seamus as they passed him, and his face turned a very pink colour. Harry couldn't help smiling. 

He ordered the drinks- in case Madame Rosmerta recognised Lily, and they sat quietly for awhile, sipping at their butterbeer. 

'Are you an angel?' Harry asked curiously. 

'No. Not yet, anyway. If I can help Cho, then I might get my wings…but so far I've barely been able to make her laugh.' Lily slumped down in her seat and looked for all the world like a depressed teenager. 

'How'd you stop hating dad?'

Lily smiled, remembering. 'I never _hated_ him…well, I did. I don't really remember, to tell you the truth. Do you know how to turn things spotty without a potion?'

Harry wasn't quite used to having the subject changed so abruptly. 'Er- no.'

Lily grinned evilly, and Harry shrank back in his seat, hoping she wasn't going to experiment on Snape. Not that he cared about Snape, but she wouldn't have to put up with hours of detention- he would.

'You just wave your wand- like this- and say spotty, dotty, make this thing look rotten.'

'That's a spell?'

'Well, no, not exactly. Sirius made it up once.'

'Does it work?' 

'Yeah, course it does.'

'Cool.'

'Hey, would you like to meet your dad?'

Harry's head shot up. 

'Yeah…but- he's not an angel, either, is he?'

'Well, no. But I'll ask Lissy, she'll agree. When would you like to see him?'

Harry looked like puppy, his eyes open and eager, as if she was holding a can of dog food.

'Soon?'

Lily smiled. 'I'll ask. Now, tell me. Exactly what does this Dudley boy look like?'

'A pig. Or a whale, depending on which view you get.'

Lily sighed with happiness. 

James _was_ Chaser. Unless JKR was lying in her interview with scholastic, which I doubt. Anyway, no one ever said he was Seeker, just that he was good. 

We will probably meet James next chapter- I'm recovering from writers block (finally)…banana's cure me, actually, but thanks everyone for all the advice. The next part will be longer, I promise. 


	8. Default Chapter Title

****

Lily Angel

Chapter 9

Lily sat in her bed in the girl's dorms, talking to Lissy. Her job in Rome was finished ('you should have seen it! So much colour!') and she had come to help Lily, though in secret. 

'You want James to come down?' Lissy said doubtfully, biting on her nails. 'You weren't even supposed to tell Harry…I'll be in big trouble if Michelangelo finds out, I'll never get to train you.' She looked suddenly downcast. 

'I didn't exactly _tell_ him,' Lily said, patting her friend on the shoulder comfortingly. 'He sort of figured it out himself. I didn't know he had a photo album of us, but he did, he showed it to me the other day. And he wants to see James so much! _Please_?' She looked at Lissy with pleading eyes. 

Lissy sighed, and she leaned back on the pillows, closing her eyes thoughtfully. 

'I suppose so,' she said with a sigh, sounding much older than she looked. She only _looked_ as though she was twelve years old, and here she was dealing with fate. It was enough to make anyone sigh. 

'Thankyou! Thankyou, thankyou- hey! Where'd you go?' 

Lissy had suddenly disappeared, and while Lily crawled around on the floor trying to see if she'd hidden under a bed, Cho came in. 

__

What on earth?

She was greeted by the sight of Lillian lying on her back, talking to the springs under the mattress, or whatever else was under her bed. Cho didn't really like to guess. 

'Er- Lillian?'

Lily banged her head on the springs and crawled out, rubbing her head. 

'Ow.'

Cho stared at her, but decided against saying anything. Her friend's red hair was tangled messily, and her face bore a strange resemblance to someone she knew- but she knew no one else who had red hair, or green eyes like that, so it must have been her imagination. 

Or was it? 

Harry and Lily sat outside about a week later, playing wizard chess. It amused Harry to find that he was even better than she was- so, in all honesty, she was pretty bad. When Lily had lost her fifth game, Harry began to get impatient. He expected her to say some like 'patience is a virtue,' as all his other elders had, but she didn't- she seemed to be almost as impatient as he was. 

'Lily?'

'Mmm?' She glanced up from where she had been pulling grass out of the ground- there was now a little mound on dirt in its place. 

'Are you sure he'll come?'

'Sure he'll come,' Lily said cheerfully, glancing up at the sky. 'Any minute now…maybe you should move over there, on second thoughts.'

'Why?'

Lily raised her eyebrows at him, so he shrugged and stood under the tree nearby. While his back was turned, he heard a loud thump and a yell. Harry spun around. 

There, lying on the ground, was a tall, gangly man. He had landed directly on top of Lily, and she didn't sound- or look, but she was underneath him so it was hard to be sure- too pleased with these arrangements. 

'Oof! You just _had_ to land on me, didn't you, you great lump!' Her voice was indistinct, but James Potter didn't seem to care. He pulled her to her feet, while Harry watched, speechless. 

James was looking at her with a funny kind of grin on his face. 

'You look different…Miss Potter, have you shrunk?'

Harry couldn't hear Lily's answer, but he supposed it was funny, as James laughed and picked her up, swirling her around in the air. 

Then he turned around, and the grin that had been on his face was quickly replaced by an even wider smile, and although his eyes were quite serious, they were smiling too. Harry blinked. It was like looking into a mirror- although, of course, he was still quite short and his father was not short at all. 

Lily decided it might be time to say something- 'James, this is Harry.'

'Hey, Harry.' 

'Hey.' 

Harry mentally hit himself. First time he'd ever spoken to his dad, and he sounded strangely like a mouse. He decided to try again. 

'Hello.' 

Now rat talk had clicked in.

But James just laughed again, but he didn't know what to say either, and the two of them just stood there, staring at each other. It wasn't exactly an awkward silence, nor an uncomfortable silence. It was just silent, and strangely so at that.

Lily blinked. 'Okay. Now we can all talk.'

Silence. 

'Or not,' Lily added. 

''You like Quidditch?' James asked, eyeing Harry's strong arms. 

Harry's eyes lit up like a Christmas tree. 'Yeah!'

'Got a broom?'

'Yup!'

'Then off we go.'

The two off them practically raced off to the broom shed, with Lily hurrying after them, shaking her head in disbelief. 

'Quidditch? Not even a 'how are you today?' No, just Quidditch…I must have been mad to marry him. Absolutely crazy.'

She shrieked as James jumped out from a bush, picking her up in his arms, swinging her around. 

__

But happy. Crazy and happy. 

Cho Chang sat in Muggle Studies. It was all very confusing, this television business. Were they real people, or puppets made to look life like with what the professor called 'special effects?'

But going back to more important matters, she continued drawing the picture on her parchment she'd been working on for ages. She was not a person that could draw realistically- her people looked oddly like Mrs Potato Head after she'd been in the oven for several hours or something. But her paintings were very colourful, and they cheered her up occasionally. Lillian, somehow, had also made life slightly more bearable, but her paintings were her favourite thing, although her best friend Marta Hoppings said that they gave her a headache.

Of course, her paintings from after the tri-wizard tournament weren't exactly what you'd call cheerful. More like dark and angry. But they were, strangely, some of her best work, though she didn't often look at them. It was too depressing. 

She sighed loudly, but was distracted when Lillian Skye, the crazy red haired transfer from- well, somewhere- came rushing in, her long hair wet. 

'Miss Skye?' The professor said, raising his eyebrows. However, before he could lecture her on punctuality and the importance of a watch (but Lily and watches really didn't go well together) 

She grinned cheerfully, and for a moment her face took on the look of an angel.

Cho shook her head out of her trance, blinking. Her friend turned back into Lillian, but still…there was something about her eyes. 

'Where were you?' She hissed the moment Lillian had taken her seat. 

'Outside, I got a bit- um, sidetracked.'

'Right.' Her dark eyes narrowed. 'With who?'

'I never said with anybody,' Lillian said defensively, but she didn't look Cho in the eyes.

Cho smirked. 'You have that love-sick look in your eyes, I can tell.'

__

What is this? I thought I got rid of that look when I was nineteen? Dammit. 

'So who's the lucky guy?'

'You wouldn't believe me if I told you.'

'So what's he like?'

Lily thought for a moment. 'He's the most sweet, yet the most annoying person on the planet…and he's got the most adorable smile in the world. And he sucks at writing poetry.'

'He wrote you poems?' _Now there's something Cedric never did. _

'They weren't very good,' Lily admitted. 

'How'd you meet some adorable guy when you've hardly been here a month?'

'Oh- um…lucky, I guess.'

Cho snorted, but in her head she was remembering someone with the sweetest smile…it was unfair. She'd kill Voldemort one day, even if she died trying. So far blunt knives were looking very appealing. 

***

Joanna Matheson stared at the television. Nothing was on, and the screen was blank but she didn't care. The darkness was kind of interesting, in a boring way. 

She kicked the remote control, attempting in grabbing it with her toes, succeeding in shoving it to the other side of the room. 

Joanna gave a loud snort.

Her life was the pits. That was how she described it to her friends, when they bothered to ask. She didn't actually _have_ many friends, and all of the ones that she ever had had were either dead or in prison or they'd disappeared off the face of the earth. 

She'd disappeared as well. 

From the outside world, but also from herself. She was hiding inside a shell she didn't know how to crack, and every time someone tried to break it she added another layer or just rolled away.

Yes, life couldn't possibly get any lower. 

The stick lying on the coffee table jerked over a few centimetres. 

'Bloody thing,' Joanna muttered.

It gave off a few sparks in reply, and the next moment someone appeared in her fireplace. 

'Sirius. Black. Get the _hell_ away from me.'

Sirius's hair was shorter than the picture she remembered from the newspaper. 

'Hey, Jo-jo.'

'Leave me _alone_.'

Sirius stared at her. 'You've cut your hair.'

'It's been fifteen years, I think I'm allowed to do what I want. I waited for you to be proved innocent, you know. I waited ten bloody years.'

'And you've been hanging around drunks, haven't you? And the hair looks nice, now that I think of it. It shows off your ears. You have nice ears.' 

Typical Sirius conversation.

'I don't believe you.' Jo hissed. 'You kill my best friends, ruin my life, and come here and tell me that I have nice ears? You have some nerve, Black.'

Sirius looked sheepish, and an expression Jo Gilles had rarely seen in his eyes and had hoped never to see again. Hurt. Sirius never got hurt. They had an empty look left in them as well, darkness that just ducked out of the shadows and made him look older than he actually was. 

'Jo…I didn't mean to…' He said feebly. 

'No.' She said sarcastically. 'You just went and played chess with Voldemort for a few days, lost a couple of million galleons and had to repay him, right?'

'Well- no, actually. I thought Remus told you-'

'I haven't seen Remus for five years.' She said shortly. 'And now that I think of it- this is the last question I ask before I blow your head off by the way, how exactly did you find me? I'm not even connected to the floo network.'

'Yeah- I asked Arthur Weasley to connect you when I found out where you were…took me months.'

Jo was stunned. Then she remembered that Sirius had killed Lily and James and that he was a complete loser. 

She hated him, and yet she really wanted to rush at him and kiss him for the rest of her life.

But, at the moment, the hate part of her was far stronger. To prove this, she grabbed a cup and threw it at him. It bounced off Sirius's mess of hair- it was a bit like James's used to be, only longer and not quite as scruffy. 

'I hate you. I hate you, I hate you-'

'Yes, okay, you hate me. Plenty of people hate me. In fact, I think the only people who don't hate me are Harry and Dumbledore and their friends.'

'Harry? HARRY! What the hell are you talking about? You killed his parents, Black.'

She felt bad after this comment, and even worse when she saw a single silver tear slide down his cheek. Sirius never cried. 

Never. 

Even when Lily accidentally sat on his owl, he didn't cry. 

Even when Holly died he didn't cry. He was as quiet as a mouse all evening, but he didn't cry. 

Jo stepped forward and patted his shoulder awkwardly. 'Sorry…'She caught herself. 'No! What have you said to Harry?'

'The truth,' he muttered. 'But as you seem to only want to pelt me with cups…I might go.'

Her heart did a tiny little somersault as he headed towards the fireplace. The room they were standing in was dusty, old and dull. She almost wanted to cry herself. Here was Sirius, the person she'd been waiting for almost half her life…and here she was chucking cups at him. 

'Sirius…tell me what happened.'

His eyes widened and he spun around, staring at her, disbelief evident in his shadowy eyes. 

'I'd never kill Lily and James,' he whispered. He sounded so unlike Sirius. It scared her and made it impossible for her to be angry with him. 

He grinned, attempting look like the Sirius Black everyone knew. 

But now she knew that under all his jokes, and under the laughter someone else was hidden. Maybe that person hadn't been there before, but they were there now and she knew they weren't supposed to be. 

'I believe you. But what did happen- please tell me?'

Sirius sighed loudly. 'It could take awhile.'

'I've got forever.'

***

'Lily.'

Lily glanced up from her homework.

'D'you _have_ to do that?'

She mumbled a reply, the sound of the quill scratching on the parchment more distinct than her answer. 

James grumbled loudly. 'I'm bored. I want to do something.'

She looked up. 'Any suggestions? Cause unless you want me to spend all afternoon in the dungeons scrubbing cauldrons, I suggest you let me get on with this.'

He moaned. 'I'm so boooooored…I feel like tomato soup…oooh…I'll see you later, Lil.'

Lily blinked as James (who had now turned invisible) bounced off. She could hear his footsteps. 

If James ever got wings, she pitied anyone who got in his way. They'd be trampled on for sure. 

***

Ron Weasley let out a loud yawn, causing Hermione Granger to frown at him. She could look frighteningly like Professor McGonagall at these times, and Ron looked away quickly, horrified. It was bad enough to be in Professor McGonagall's class- but to have a best friend that looked like her…it was just _horrific_.

Harry Potter was off in la la land, still thinking of his parents- they had to be the coolest people in the world, apart from Sirius. 

Lily was a lot like a teenager still. Her long hair was always in her face and she was so funny, like Ron in weird way. He re-thought this. His _mother_ was like his _best_ _friend_? 

That did not come out right. 

She had the same sense of humour?

Yes, that sounded a bit better. 

But he was scared Lily would kill James if they were left alone together- though he supposed they'd managed without for quite awhile, they'd manage.

But he still couldn't help worrying that he'd find Lily without all her beautiful hair. 

Or James bald. 

'Talked to Lillian lately?' Hermione asked innocently, really only looking forward to seeing Ron's reaction. 

'Lillian? What- no.'

As Hermione had mentally predicted, Ron's ears went a very dark pink colour. 

And Harry, of course, found this hilarious. 

His best friend (who had the same sense of humour as his mother) liked his mother…

No. That wasn't funny. 

That was disgusting. 

I am really, really, sorry this took so long. I actually wrote some of it during science (yay!) but we spent the _entire_ lesson in computing today on spreadsheets. Cassie Lee, when you get back to Sydney, come to Adelaide and we'll trap my computing teacher and we can torture him with mosquitoes. 

People have told me that my stories are too short, and that they should be longer. Sorry, sorry, sorry. The Flower and the Stag actually took me about 7 months, maybe longer, so if you want parts like that you'll be waiting an extremely long time. 

Sorry again. J - oh, someone asked me how to do that. You press shift, keep your finger on it and press this one : and then you press this one ) 

It _should_ make a smiley face (figured that out during a computing lesson.)

And the Joanna Matheson part- that was Jo. 


	9. oh. hmmm...chapter name...the next part ...

****

This is for Sarah, who kept me sane and makes me laugh, 

Mariel, who writes fabulous poems, 

And all you wonderful, wonderful reviewers who have asked for this last part and reviewed all the others

Lily Angel

Chapter 9

Lily sat up a tree in a rather uncomfortable position, with Lissy the angel perched above her on a higher branch, talking rapidly. 

'Look, Lily. You've been here for ages- now, I know Cho's quite a difficult case and all…but I kind of need you in Paris, that is, if you can help Cho…'

'I don't know any French,' Lily said bluntly. 

Lissy waved this aside. 'I think I know what Cho might need, okay? Oh, and Lily?' 

'Mm hmm?'

'You would be able to say goodbye to Harry, you know,' Lissy said gently.

Lily nodded, a wave of sadness creeping over her. It would be like leaving Hogwarts all over again. And Harry…only while leaving Harry the first time wasn't that difficult a decision- she couldn't have let him cark it, after all, now she had to leave him again…at least she'd be able to explain herself, she reasoned, attempting to stay clam. 

'Come on, don't be sad,' Lissy pleaded, suddenly appearing next to her, putting a long arm around Lily's cold shoulders comfortingly. 'Everyone has to leave sometime, it's the way everything works. It makes the time we have with people here even more special…'

'Yeah, I know,' Lily sniffed and wiped her eyes with the back of her hands hurriedly. 'I've been thinking of Harry too much…sorry.' 

The smaller angel didn't answer; she was lost in thought her eyelids half closed and her small lips pressed together. Lily waited patiently, thinking about Cho with panic washing over her in small waves making her stomach ripple with nervously. 

How long did she have? Cho was a great girl and Lily didn't want to let her down, but she didn't have long to find out her deepest darkest secrets that were hidden very, very well. Nothing was impossible, but even so, this was edging pretty close. Cho hardly showed that it hurt, and although Lily knew it did, her dark haired friend was an extremely good actress. 

'Lissy, I'm going to bed. I'll see you soon, okay?'

Lissy nodded silently, her eyes now completely closed. It looked as though she was in a deep trance- Lissy called it meditation, but when Lily had tried it she had fallen asleep and knocked her head on a pointy rock. The odds of sitting on the grass and falling backwards onto a sharp rock were quite small, and yet Lily had managed to fall directly onto the sharpest pointiest rock on the entire flat plain of grass. If not the _only_ sharp pointy rock. 

Lily walked slowly up to the castle, ignoring the mosquitoes whining around her head, kicking a pebble along the ground in frustration. The pebble rolled into a little ditch and Lily glared at it for no particular reason. She stomped inside, the worry building up inside of her rapidly, like a sick feeling at the pit of her stomach, lurking around and waiting to be stirred up. The hallways were empty of people, and she made her way to the Ravenclaw common room without running into anyone. Once up in the dorm she collapsed onto her bed, dark swirls of thought and ideas flitting about her head, each idea worse than the one before.

Cho's snoring and Alexandra's thumb sucking sounds didn't help the sleep process, and after several hours of endless tossing and turning and cursing the sand man (although she wasn't entirely sure if the sand man actually existed) she finally drifted off into a dreamless sleep. 

***

Sirius was beginning to feel rather sick. Jo, seeing that he was so incredibly thin, had decided to fill him up and she was being rather forceful in her attempt to 'get some meat on his bones.' Apart from being extremely stuffed and not able to eat another bite, the idea of having 'meat' on his bones wasn't exactly something to be pleased about, as far as he was concerned. He didn't want to be eaten, even if it _was_ only a leg. For a brief moment he imagined Jo wearing a butcher's apron and an evil grin, holding a carving knife. The image Jo smiled broadly, revealing several gold teeth. As the Jo sprouted a moustache, he blinked, looking to the real Jo for some comfort. Food, obviously, was not too good for you in large doses. 

She sat down cross-legged on the couch opposite him, concern showing in her eyes. 'Why on earth didn't you have a trial, then? That's what I want to know.' Her black hair, now cropped short, stuck out at odd directions in a failed attempt at a ponytail. Her dark eyes focused squarely on his, waiting for an answer. 

Sirius shrugged. 'Does it really matter? They wouldn't even have cared either way- and besides! Wormtail wasn't even 'alive'' (Sirius made little bunny ears with his fingers) 'to be proven guilty. He set me up and I have to admit, he did a damn good job of it.' Sirius scowled. 'I'm going to find him and make sure he's put through the hell I was…hopefully a fully guarded cell, I'm sure he'd _love_ it there.' His black eyes were dark and malicious- not at all like the cheerful sparkling pair Jo had once known, and it scared her. She knew he could be rash and stupid, but this was a completely different side to him she'd never properly seen before. 

'Anyway, that's all behind us now. I'm far more interested in the future,' Sirius said, trying to start up a more lively conversation. 

Jo glared at him. 'I care about what happened. You've had years to come to terms with it, I've had three days and frankly, I don't think that's long enough. What do you expect me to say, 'yep, well, you've been in Azkaban for 12 years and I thought you'd killed my best friends and I'd been in love with you, but yes, that's fine! I'm so happy! Let's just start from where we left off, okay'?' 

Sirius opened his mouth, quickly searching his mind for something to add. 'Um. Yes?' He said meekly, looking out at her from under a few flyaway strands of hair. 

'And apart from that,' Jo continued 'the future is connected with the past. Everything is, if you wanted to ignore the past, there'd be no reason for you to hunt down Pettigrew and trap him, rip him into tiny little pieces and then send them off to You-Know-Who in a neatly wrapped package, would there? And why do you call him Wormtail, he's more like an ugly pig.' 

'He's an animagus,' Sirius said shortly, too tired (and full, his pants were beginning to feel rather tight) too go into it with further detail. Jo, however, thought differently and she made this obvious by gaping at him with her mouth wide open, her eyes huge and not blinking. 

'Excuse me?' 

'Are you going to close your mouth soon?' Sirius said, irritated. 'It's kind of disconcerting, trying to talk to someone who's displaying their tonsils to you like that.'

Jo scowled, but obediently shut her mouth. 

'We became animagi- James, Peter, and me. In our fifth year- it took about three years to get it right, and when we did it took ages for Peter to understand. He was a rat- Wormtail, we called him. I was Padfoot- a big dog- and James was Prongs. The stag.' A faint smile appeared on Sirius's lips. 'He was always getting his antlers stuck…stupid herbivore,' he muttered, as if telling himself a familiar joke that hadn't been mentioned for years- which it hadn't. 

'Did Lily know?' Jo whispered, shocked- partly because they'd managed to actually perform the spell without growing permanent antlers, but mainly because she'd never figured it out. _And I stared at him for three full years during dinner and I never even guessed…_she thought ruefully, wondering briefly if he'd ever grown fur while he was a human. He'd be all fluffy…

Sirius nodded. 'She helped us. She found the book we were using, she kind of guessed…'

Jo blinked herself out of a trance and stared at him.

'What?' Sirius asked when she hadn't said anything. 

'Will you turn into dog now?' 

'Right now?'

'No, next week. Yes, now!'

'Why?' Sirius lay back and ate a grape that had been lost for several weeks behind cushion. Jo grimaced, mentally making a note to train him in healthy foods. Being a dog hadn't done a lot for his common sense.

'I want proof,' Jo said, crossing her arms across her chest stubbornly. 

'Proof? Why ever do you need proof?'

'Because- I…don't you think I deserve _something_?' 

'I could give you a big kiss!' Sirius said brightly, sitting up, now completely alert.

'You breath smells like dead fish,' she answered flatly. 'Now turn into a dog.'

Sirius muttered something that sounded awfully like 'dead fish…hmph…how would she know what dead fish smell like anyway, that's what I'd like to know…'

'Just change already.'

'Fine, fine, but if I slobber big dead fishy drool all over your fingers, don't say I didn't warn you.'

There was a pop, and next to her stood a large, black dog with bedraggled hair. Jo grinned, and reached over to pat him- the top of his head was soft, like baby hair, and although it did smell like he'd been rolling around in a puddle- a funny wet smell- she buried her face in his fur. 

They both sat there like that foe a long time, the clock ticking away in the background the sound at all (along with the occasional sigh of happiness from Padfoot) until Jo leapt up at the ringing of the doorbell. 'Sit, doggy,' she said, grinning in his direction.

Sirius growled, but he sat, eyeing Jo grumpily. _Treating me like a pet…I oughta…_

Jo came back into the room with Remus, who was smiling just as much as he had at their last meeting. 'Evening, Padfoot.'

Sirius reappeared sitting on the floor.

'You've got something on your mouth,' Remus pointed on his own face to where there was a long line of drool slowly making its way down Sirius's chin. 'Really, Sirius. Haven't you brushed your hair?'

Jo giggled, leaving poor Sirius to wonder what his hair looked like during the rest of the conversation.

Remus was just telling Jo about a third year who had accidentally grown himself a pair of elephant ears during one lesson, when they heard a shout coming from the general direction of the bathroom. 'JO!'

'Yes?'

Sirius stormed in. 'Exactly how many times did you flatten the hair on my head?'

'I wasn't counting,' she answered, looking up at him innocently. 

He snorted and turned around to go out. 'I'm going to have to buy a hat. Moony, do you have any hats?'

Before Remus could answer, he left, in search of a suitable piece of headgear. 

'So you're Moony,' Jo said simply, twisting a short strand of black hair around her finger, unsure of what to say next. 

'Yeah.'

'Is it hard?' She asked, not needed to say any more.

'Nah…Severus- you know, Snape- fixes me a potion every month…'

'Oh.'

'How did you know?' He asked, curious. 

'I guessed.' She said truthfully, and Remus nodded, wondering, for the hundredth billionth time in his life, how he had become so lucky as to come across friends like his. 

***

'Cho, oh Cho, where for art thou oh Cho?'

Madame Pince's head snapped up and her eyes narrowed at the sound of this disruption. Even someone quoting Shakespeare (however badly and incorrectly) was not allowed to shout in the library, and apart from that she hadn't yelled at a single person all day. Her beady eyes scanned the library for her next victim. 

Lillian Skye.

__

Well then, she thought, satisfied. _I'll show this new girl what's what around Hogwarts._

Her fixed her most evil-frightening-librarian-stare on the tall student, waiting for her dark eyes to connect with the girl's green pair.

It took several seconds, as Lillian was searching all shelves for Cho Chang, without any luck. Finally, she turned around and came face to face with the Librarian from Hell.

'Keep your voice down,' the Librarian from Hell hissed, glaring at her, mustering up her most terrifying look.

Lillian nodded cheerfully and turned away. 

__

Goodness! I must be losing my touch! Madame Pince raced over to her desk, shuffling through the piles of parchment for one particular spell. 

'A ha!' She said, satisfied, pulling an old wrinkled piece of parchment out of the huge stack, smoothing it out with a simple ironing spell. At the top it was titled _'how to frighten off annoying students with a simple glare- works especially well on young children.' _In red ink, probably meant to look like blood, although it took on more of a resemblance to runny tomato sauce. 

Madame Pince scanned the writing, muttering 'maybe if I lowered my eyebrows a little more…yes…'

***

'Hey, Cho?' 

Lily was looking in all the cubicles in the girl's toilets- except the ones that were occupied, of course. She knocked on one 'Cho?' 

'Hey!'

'Oops, sorry…Cho?'

A loud sniffle came from the cubicle at the far end of the toilets, and Lily raced down to it, careful not to slip on the tiles. 'Cho?'

The person sniffed again, and then blew their nose loudly. 'Yeah?' Cho asked, her voice stuffy.

'Can I come in?' 

Another sniffle.

'Please?'

The lock clicked open and a small head covered in black, tousled hair peered around the edge. 'Lillian?' She whispered, wiping her eyes hurriedly. Her lashes were wet, sticking together in strange clumps which made it look as though she had tried to apply mascara with a paintbrush. Cho's dark brown eyes were shiny with unshed tears, and she took a deep shuddering breath, then stepped out into the bathroom, rubbing her face with the front of her robes. 

'What d'you want?' She muttered, refusing to look up and meet Lily's eyes.

'Oh. Um. You were missing, so I thought I'd come and find you. Yeah.' 

Cho blinked. 'I only missed lunch,' she said pointedly. 

'Oh…but lunch is very important! You must eat!' She started steering Cho out of the room. 'You'll get weak and collapse! You could drown!'

'Drown?' Cho said blankly, wondering if they had swimming lessons in the lake after lunch.

'-Er- yes! Drown! In, um, your cauldron!'

'Are you okay, Lillian?' Cho asked, glad to worry about her friend's insanity for once instead of her own. 

'Oh, yes. I'm fine. It's _you_ I'm worried about.'

__

That's what I'm_ worried about_, Cho thought. _Hopefully she's not too unstable_…

'This isn't the great hall,' Cho said suddenly. 

'Mmm,' Lily said, distracted. 'Come on. Let's go up here.' She started climbing a ladder Cho had never noticed before- in fact, she could have sworn it wasn't there a few seconds ago. 

'Where are we going?' Cho called, glancing up the ladder. A trap door was visible in the ceiling- once Lily reached it she pushed it up and hoisted herself in. 'Need a hand?' She said in a whisper. 

Cho shook her head, but nevertheless, Lily pulled her up by the arms. She closed the trap door gently without a sound and then lit her wand.

Cho stared around her- it was a little like an attic, shadows dancing around beams in the roof and stone floors. Screeches from somewhere nearby told her they were near the owlery, along with the subtle stink of owl poo.

'What d'you want to talk about?' Cho said, feeling suddenly very empty.

'You.'

'Me? Why me? I'm sure you're far more interesting--'

'Why were you crying?' Lily asked gently, her green eyes staring straight into Cho's dark eyes, as if seeing something the pupils invisible to everyone else.

'I-- I…was sad…' Cho stammered, unsure of what to say. She tore her eyes away from the green pair boring into her skull.

'You know,' Lily said, in a conversational tone 'when I was fifteen my parents died.'

'Last year?' Cho said in disbelief.

'No- I mean, yeah…feels like a lot longer ago to me…but anyway- you have to get on with your life--I know people always say that, and that's because there's the only thing to say…you never get over it…you just have to get on with it.'

Cho's shoulders slumped. 'I-- I keep dreaming that Cedric comes back alive…that he's holding the cup…' Cho sniffled. 'And then I wake up and I remember and it all comes back.

'I'm scared,' she whispered, as if telling Lily a secret she hadn't told anyone, as it were a dark feeling she shouldn't feel and should keep it hidden deep inside. 'I don't want to die. If something like that can happen to him--'

Lily didn't say anything. She leant forward and hugged Cho tightly. 'He died bravely. He didn't die begging for mercy, he didn't die asking to be saved- he didn't die a hero but he didn't die a coward and I know he's happy in Heaven now.'

Cho nodded.

'So, you want lunch?'

Cho shrugged.

'You don't want to drown in your cauldron…'

Cho smiled shakily. 'No…'

'Well then. Let's go get some soup. And Cho?' She added, looking down at Cho, who was climbing slowly down the ladder.

'Mmm?'

'When you die, it isn't so bad.'

***

'Harry! Oh, God…Harry, maybe you shouldn't do that on a broomstick! You could fall! James, catch him!' Lily clasped her hands over her eyes, groaning loudly. She peeked out from under one finger and let out a loud moan. 'Haaaarry…'

Harry landed abruptly after a deep dive, grinning cheerfully, his hair windblown. James appeared on the ground right after his son, smiling at his wife with sparkling brown eyes. 

'Yes, Lily dearest?'

She scowled at James and turned to Harry, swishing her hair in James's face. James whimpered loudly. 'She doesn't love me any more…'

'Oh, do shut up. Harry.'

Harry, pushing his black hair out of eyes in a mannerism of James's, looked up at her- he was still quite short for his age, even if he was growing (at about a cm a year it seemed to him sometimes. He was sure Ron would start banging his head on doorways sometimes in the near future while he didn't even have to duck. It could be depressing, though he supposed it was quite a bit less painful than the alternative.) Lily was sure Petunia had fed him scraps for the first eleven years of his life, but she hadn't liked to talk about it too much. It made her feel a little too murderous, and she didn't want to be responsible for killing Snape on account of her sister. 

'Yeah?' He asked, and Lily could see herself reflected on the glass of his glasses. Before she could answer, though, Harry caught the sadness in her eyes, in the way she moved, and he sighed. 'When d'you have to leave?' He mumbled, examining his shoes. They needed a polish, not that he'd ever actually bother to polish them. 

'Soon,' Lily whispered. James glanced at her and smiled, comforting her slightly. 'Next week, I think…I have to sort some things out with Cho still.'

Harry's cheeks reddened a bit and his eyes darted up briefly. 'What things?'

Lily held back a small laugh. 'Nothing that concerns you, Harry…darn…I might see you at dinner, okay?'

Harry nodded, then turned to James. 'Want to play Quidditch?'

His father nodded ecstatically, while Lily spun around, an expression of fury written across her face. 'You have POTIONS now, not Quidditch…James.' She said pointedly. 

'Lily.'

She threw up her arms and walked back into the castle, shaking her head.

***

'Oi! Cho!'

Cho Chang spun around, her eyes clear and dark, no trace of tears evident. Lily hurried up to her, all her books clutched tightly at her side as she walked as fast as possible without dropping them in the afternoon rush. Lily hated having to fight the crowds to get to her next lesson.

'Yeah?'

Lily, panting, leaned against the wall, while Cho, with her dark hair pulled back neatly, watched her with concern.

'You aren't very fit, are you?'

__

Here I am, worried about her state of mind, while she's commenting on my fitness. I'm fifteen years out of practise, but I suppose that wouldn't come out too clearly in an argument…

'I guess not- but anyway-'

'Maybe you should exercise more,' Cho said earnestly. 

'Mmm,' Lily said, her voice a little impatient. Cho, thinking of methods to make her friend athletic, didn't notice, and she continued. 'You could play Quidditch! Can you ride a broom-'

'Cho,' Lily said firmly, stopping her. 'I have to leave soon.'

Cho blinked. 'No Quidditch?'

'No, thank God.'

'Oh, darn, we need more girls…'

Lily, sensing that the topic of conversation could change to girls and Quidditch, hurried on. 'Well, the thing is, I wanted to say goodbye. And make sure you're okay and stuff.'

Cho turned a little red, remember the previous day. 'I'm okay,' she muttered. Realising Lily hadn't answered her; she looked up, a little smile on her face. _'Really_. What you said helped…honestly.'

Lily looked deep into her friends eyes, and she noticed that those dark shadows that had once hovered in the corners of her eyes were now gone. They were clear and confident and while slightly unsure, Lily knew that you could never be entirely sure of life. 

Suddenly, Cho flung her arms around Lily's neck and pulled her into a bone-breaking hug, crushing Lily's arms to her side. She didn't complain. There was something incredibly rewarding, heart warming, that made her feel proud, made her feel as though she had done a job that had once seemed impossible. 

***

It was a dark, starry night, glittering as though God had tipped a sprinkle of fairy-dust across the clouds. The three people standing in the darkness of the shadows were silent, as if not entirely sure of what they wanted to say.

Saying goodbye is hard for everyone, but this was worse than any goodbyes any of them had ever experienced. Different to death, expected, but still just as hard.

Lily gulped loudly. It sounded very audible in the silence of the night, and she immediately wished she hadn't made a noise. Harry, returning to his habit of repeating his firebolt book over and over in his head, stood trying to remember page 23. He kept looking up at his parents, however, and the moment he saw Lily's beautiful face shining in the moonlight, and James leaning up against a tree with a thoughtful expression on his face, he wished he could have stolen Colin Creevey's camera and snapped a photo. He needed a photo. 

Any photo.

One of them arguing, anything at all.

'Hang on a moment,' he said, breaking the silence, dashing back off to the castle. 

Lily raised her eyebrows at James. The butterflies in her stomach went into a frenzy, and she wished more than anything else in the world at that moment that she could have stayed at Hogwarts forever, not have to wait until Harry died for her to see him again, wishing she could see him grow up and…

This was no time to get soppy.

Harry came back a little while later, carrying a camera, looking back over his shoulder. He dived behind a tree and indicated for his parents to do the same. Crouching behind a large rhododendron bush Lily looked at him questioningly. 

He mouthed something that looked a little like 'holin heevey.'

'Pardon?' She hissed. She had no idea what Holin was, or _who_ Holin was, and, judging by the look of panic written across her son's face, she wasn't entirely sure she wanted to know. Harry didn't answer-, which was lucky, since a young boy of around fourteen came jogging into the clearing at that moment, puffing, out of breath. His sandy hair was falling in his face and he was clutching a stitch in his side. 

Harry, who didn't appear to be breathing in his desperate attempt for 'Holin' not to notice them, put his finger to his lips and indicated for Lily to do the same. She stared at him, then back at the boy. Surely he couldn't be so bad? 

And so before Harry could do anything to stop her, she had stood up, smiling cheerfully as Holin. 

'Hello…'

He jumped, spun around, and in the process of around five seconds his eyes went from small, to huge, to confused, to puzzled (unless puzzled and confused are the same things, so we'll say he was confused twice.)

'Oh! Hi! You're, um, Lillian, right? That Ravenclaw Harry's been hanging around with? He went to Hogsmeade with you, didn't he? Because last Thursday at lunch he was saying to Ron and that that he was…'

__

What is this guy, his person assistant?

'Um, yes.'

'Really? Wow, I mean, wow! Did he borrow my camera to take a photo of you? Oh, that's very sweet! I didn't know he had a girlfriend!'

__

That didn't sound quite right. 

'How long have you been going out?'

Lily coughed. 'Pardon?'

'You know, seeing each other?'

__

Oh dear. Oh no. 

'No, uh, no.' Lily shook her head frantically, babbling what she hoped would make him understand. 

'No?'

'Oh, sorry, you want privacy, right?'

'Huh?'

'Sorry, sorry…ooh, I can't wait to tell my friends!' He turned and dashed away, his long black robes whipping up behind him, revealing extremely skinny legs. 

Harry slowly rose up from behind the rhododendron bush, sighing loudly. 'Colin Creevey…'

'Harry. We have a problem.'

AAAACK! This wasn't very long! I am soooo sorry! This was going to be the last part, and I know just what's going to happen, but I HAD to post it, before someone leaps into their screen and hunts me with a sharp lead pencil. It hasn't even been beta read yet, because it's been so long and I had to post it today (I just did, for my own reasons) and so here we go. Sorry times five hundred billion trillion. Oh, and Padfoot/Mew? I CAN'T FIND YOUR NAME! AACK! I've been trying to beta read your story, but I can't find the other parts, so I have no idea what is going on! *sighs*

In the next part (which WILL be the last) we be touring the Eiffel Tower, we will discover Colin Creevey's gift of the gab (although we already knew about it, I'm just exaggerating) and if you review, you will get a lovely slice of chocolate cake. (Mudcake, peoples, not that dry crumbly stuff.) 


	10. Epilogue

lilyangelalalalal

Hello, everybody. Miss Tropical Fishy has not been writing for some time, has she? Naughty, naughty girl, she is. It appears, however, that she has stumbled across a wall-- writers block, it is often called. And also homework, but it's useless anyway so really it's no excuse. And so this stupid wall has been in her way for some time, so many of you have probably forgotten who, exactly, she is. Well. Go to www.geocities.com/netball_rocks/quintessential.html to find out _who_ she is, and in the mean time read the end part to lily angel. Go ahead. It's right there. [and it's very short, too. Sorry.] Song at the end belongs to the Corrs. 

****

Epilogue

Harry slumped upstairs to the common room feeling-- fairly so-- down in the dumps. I myself have never quite understood the whole 'down-in-the-dumps' expression-- are they at a dump? Why is it down? If it was piled up with junk, would it not be 'up in the dumps?' And so on. However, that was exactly how Harry was feeling-- not sad, not exactly angry, or even frustrated. There weren't any feelings to exactly describe his mood, except a mixture of many and that would take far too long to type. 

So he was down in the dumps, feeling as low as a poor, stepped on and crumpled coke can. 

He replayed the scene in his head-- Lily, joking around for a few moments before hugging him and apologising about Colin Creevey ['perhaps a memory charm would work?'], and James, unsure almost of what to say and then attempting to smooth down his own hair before ruffling Harry's.

And then they left.

It was stupid, really, he told himself, to think they'd stay forever. And to meet them, just to say hi-- hadn't that been what he'd always wanted? And when the Dementors were happily sucking away his own happiness-- hadn't he almost wished, at times, to hear his mother…? 

So he'd seen them.

He'd laughed with them.

And now he had to go and convince Colin Creevey he was not dating his mother. 

It was laughable. Not now, but in, say, five hundred years, he might have the odd chuckle about it. Maybe six hundred. He wondered how he could explain it to Colin. In his best therapy-voice-that's-good-for-charming-snakes, he'd say 'now, Colin. That was not my girlfriend out there. That was, in fact, my mother. She's dead, you say? Why, that's right! [all the while using no expression whatsoever, as that is likely to upset the patient] She is! However, she came back to earth to see me, you see. Yes. You understand? You're not going to go spreading rumours? Good. Off you go.'

Possibly a memory charm would be more suitable. 

Harry entered the Common room, and was immediately bombarded by Ron, who was grinning from ear to freckly ear. 'So, is it true?' He said, raising his eyebrows when Harry didn't speak.

'What?' Harry said. 

Ron rolled his eyes. 'That Lillian girl-- Colin reckons he saw you outside with her…so it is true?'

'Well, no, not exactly--'

'Ha! I knew it! I knew it! That's four sickles you owe me, Hermione,' he crowed, dancing around.

Hermione peeped around from a particularly fluffy armchair scowling, while Harry looked from one to the other. 'You betted on me?' He said in disbelief.

'Well- er- technically…yeah.' Ron muttered. 'So anyway,' he said, brightening up immediately 'why _were_ you outside?'

Harry sighed. 'Come on. You too, Hermione. I need to talk to you.'

Hermione frowned, but followed, with Ron jeering all the way 'I-I wo-on and you-ou lo-ost,' until Hermione snatched her wand and silenced him.

The three of them sat on Harry's bed, and once Hermione had taken the silencing charm off Ron, Harry began to speak, slowly at first, not really sure what to say. It was different than Voldemort and Snape and the other things they'd talked about before-- more personal, almost like Cho had been. 

'Well-- you know Lillian?'

[heaven]

Heaven is a beautiful place. There aren't many words to describe it because it just is. It's there and it's not-- it does not have to be believed in for it to be there, and you do not have to be a muggle or witch or wizard to be permitted in; it's huge, spanning across endless miles, yet it will never appear upon any map. 

If it's raining it's not cold, and while there's light, the rays of the sun cannot harm you. 

Lily was glad to be back. 

She was off to Paris with Lissy in a few weeks, but because Lissy finally had the situation under control over there, Lily wasn't needed. She didn't feel sad, either, because she had known all along she would have to return…the sadness, the strange empty and hollow feeling that used to exist inside of her had now disappeared, and she was happy. Harry would be there…some day…

And because there was no emptiness biting away at her any more, no bitterness and waiting, for the moment, was fine with her. 

It's not everyone who can save the wizarding world, after all. 

[hogwarts]

A long time later, Harry's throat was sore from talking and both Hermione and Ron were staring at him. Hermione's expression was written with what could almost be called pity, and Ron's pale face was confused almost, still decided exactly what to say. 

He didn't say anything for a little while-- Hermione filled in a bit of time with her 'oh, Harry's, I'm sorry,' and when Ron finally opened his mouth Harry was quite grateful for a different approach. 'Would you like me to go shut Creevey up?' 

It sounded good to Harry, and he was tempted to say yes, but _he_ wanted those honours.

What Ron said next wasn't quite so welcome.

'And she was cute, too. Darn.'

Harry shuddered at the thought.

Then Hermione broke into his thoughts- 'but Harry- don't you want to talk about it or anything? I mean, you must be sad--'

He broke her off. 'No. I don't. Look, can we just forget it?'

Some things you lose forever. Everyone has their own way of dealing with it-- some joke their way around it, trivialising the problem until it's a hidden thought tucked away behind the problems of everyday life, others cry and cry and cry until they are empty. And some people remember when they're all alone and silent, just when they thought it was easier to forget. 

__

Now here you go again, you say, you want your freedom

Well, who am I to keep you down

It's only right that you should play the way you feel it

But listen carefully to the sound

Of your loneliness like a heartbeat, drives you mad

And the stillness of remembering what you had

And what you lost

Okay. That was the end of Lily Angel-- it wasn't how I expected it to end, and I'm sorry if it wasn't very nice or happy or long enough. Some day I may come back and lengthen it a bit, but I honestly don't think there's that much to say…you can make up your own minds on what happens exactly with Lily and stuff if you want, okay? I am sorry I haven't written for ages. Truly ruly. Um. Actually, this story started off just as me being bored one afternoon…so I really hope you didn't hate the end, and I was going to make it incredibly long, tying up a whole lot of stuff, but it all got knotted. 

So yes. Have a nice day. Imaginary cake to all. Song belongs to the Corrs. 


End file.
